Adam Johnson loses appeal against child sex offences conviction

The footballer was sentenced to six years in prison in March

Adam Johnson arriving at court for sentencing (GETTY IMAGES)

The former Sunderland and England footballer Adam Johnson has lost an appeal against his conviction for child sex offences.

Johnson, 28, is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan in March.

It was reported in April, the footballer had launched an appeal over the sentence and conviction.

A statement released by Johnson's solicitors said: "We have received notification that Adam Johnson's applications for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence have been refused by the Single Judge. He is obviously disappointed.

"Having carefully considered all of the information, we will be lodging renewed applications on conviction and sentencing in the coming days."

On Monday, Johnson's sister Faye posted a message on Twitter, writing: "Absolutely devastated that the Single Judge has rejected my brother's appeal against sentence and conviction.

"But I can assure every supporter that it has made me stronger and I will never give up!"

In March, Johnson was found guilty of sexual activity with the teenager following an incident in his Range Rover in County Durham last year. He was cleared of one further count of sexual activity.

On the first day of his trial, Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of sexual activity related to kissing the girl.

Faye also told her followers the appeal page she had set up on Facebook has been "temporarily removed".

"Thank you to everyone for your continued support daily it means a lot," she wrote.